A prominent Scottish councillor has resigned after his home was searched and he was questioned in relation to a major murder investigation.
Raymond Hutcheon, 50, who at one time lived with a prostitute and was spoken to by police for kerb crawling, was a member of a Holyrood adult entertainment working group, as well as holding key posts on Aberdeen City Council.
He was also a member of Grampian Joint Police Board and Aberdeen City Council's standards and scrutiny committee, which has a remit to ensure "absolute probity".
Mr Hutcheon's house was searched on Monday in connection with the investigation into the death of 57-year-old Ronald Mair, whose body was found bound and gagged in a cupboard of his home in Kettlehills Crescent, Aberdeen, last month.
Mr Mair's lifestyle was linked to drugs and prostitution. Three people have since been charged with his murder. On Monday, Stephen Rankin, 32, of Darvel, Ayrshire, appeared in court on a murder charge and yesterday Derek Carswell, 40, of Dreghorn, by Irvine, and Jane McBurnie, 17, of Thetford, Norfolk, appeared on petition at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on murder and other charges.
They made no plea or declaration and were remanded in custody. Mr Hutcheon, the LibDem councillor for Danestone, resigned on Monday night after more than 20 years as a councillor following the police search of his home at Corsehill Croft, Parkhill, Newmachar, on the outskirts of the city.
As officers examined the two-storey croft and carried out a search of his garden and nearby woodland, Mr Hutcheon was chairing a meeting of the city's licensing committee.
Grampian Police declined to give any details of their investigation, although it is understood Mr Hutcheon has not been charged with anything and his role in the investigation is most likely to be as a witness.
He and his ex-wife, Laura, were political high flyers when they were together and, during her time as a councillor, she was social work convener for the then Grampian Regional Council. She divorced him several years ago.
In February 2002, Mr Hutcheon was spoken to by police after being spotted in the early hours of the morning in Ashgrove Road West in Aberdeen speaking to a woman. He claimed she was a constituent's daughter and the encounter had been a misunderstanding.
Nine months later, Mr Hutcheon was forced to resign his post as a governor of Oakbank School in Aberdeen after its board was told that he was in a live-in relationship with a former prostitute and recovering drug addict.
That controversy was revisited in 2005 when he was appointed to a Scottish Executive working party investigating sex shops, massage parlours and lap dancing clubs.
Aberdeen City Council yesterday confirmed Mr Hutcheon's resignation but said in a statement that it was a personal matter and, as such, the council would make no further comment.
LibDem council leader Kate Dean, said: "This is a police investigation and his resignation was a personal decision and we will not really be able to comment on it. This is a personal matter for Raymond. It is not a matter for the group, so there is no embarrassment for the Liberal Democrats."
She said his history of controversy had not led to any problems for the party.
Veteran LibDem councillor Ron Clark said: "I believe it was me who got him involved in the council initially and he has been fairly steady.
"It is sometimes not easy for someone on their own to cope. He has not had an easy time of it. There is nothing more I can say."
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